As you may have read, RFK, Jr. and the FDA recently announced a plan to phase out eight different food dyes from food sold in the United States.
This impacts…a LOT of food. (More than I think most of us realized. Certainly more than I did!)
Now, the ban relies on voluntary compliance from the various impacted industries – and in general they’re acquiescing, so I think it’s fair to say that a lot of foods are about to change. In fact, seven popular snacks are loaded with these ingredients!
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Here’s a full list:
– Citrus red 2
– Orange B
– Red d3
– Red 40
– Yellow 5
– Yellow 6
– Blue 1
– Blue 2
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There are still plenty of other food dyes, and there’s research on more being conducted.
In fact, three dyes were recently approved to start helping fill in the gaps:
– Galdieria extract blue
– Butterfly pea flower extract
– Calcium phosphate
But in the meantime, here are seven snacks that will have to see some changes to their recipes…
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What they contain: Red 40 and blue 1
More specifically, these dyes are an issue for frosted strawbery, blueberry, frosted cherry, and wild berry flavors. (Basically, you’ll find these dyes in a lot of the fruit flavored pop-tarts.)
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What they contain: Red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, and blue 1
We all knew those bright colors weren’t all-natural, right?
Fortunately, nothing that impacts the iconic Skittles taste is under attack (at least not yet), so this should be a fairly easy transition. Although the colors may not be as bright in the future…
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What they contain: Yellow 6 and red 40
Plenty of Doritos won’t be impacted, but nacho cheese and the spicy sweet chili varieties will both be. How exactly they’ll change isn’t clear as of right now, but hopefully they’ll still be as vibrantly neon as they’ve always been!
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What they contain: Yellow 5, blue 1, red 40
Lucky Charms (and especially, let’s be honest, the marshmallows) is a perennial favorite breakfast cereal in my house.
(And my kids eat it for far more than just breakfast – it’s a frequent snack at all hours. I’ve been known to indulge a little, too.)
I honestly hadn’t thought about how they achieved the specific colors…
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What they contain: Red 40.
That famous red color for original flavor Twizzlers, it tuns out, comes at least in part from Red 40. It’s unclear right now exactly how Twizzlers will handle a potential dye change.
Fortunately, Twizzlers are actually surprisingly easy to make at home.
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What they contain: Red 40, yellow 5, blue 1
Again, not totally shocking that those neon colors often came from chemical dyes. More specifically, you’ll find one or more of thse in strawberry, lime, and berry blue Jell-O flavors…plus, probably, others that I haven’t recently checked.
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What they contain: Red 40 or yellow 6
Most flavors of Cheetos have something on the banned list – regular Cheetos have yellow 6, while flamin’ hot cheetos have red 40.
Regardless, times are changing!
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And there you have it – seven popular snacks that are going to have to see some recipe changes.
(And I haven’t even gotten into drinks – there are a ton that will be impacted as well, especially sodas.)
Which surprised you most? Let us know in the comments!
And…
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Follow The Coconut Mama for more information
• For fun lists, healthy living tips, and bar conversation topics, make sure to follow The Coconut Mama. Click here to access The Coconut Mama’s profile page and be sure to hit the Follow button here or at the top of this article!
• Have feedback? Add a comment below!
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